Now that the writing process for our book is in full swing, I am dealing with some historical puzzles occasionally. Herewith two that I have shared with our Facebook readers recently. One is about a famous high school, the other about a beautiful yet dilapidated official building on Pansodan Street.
Category Archives: History
Wall reflections
The 9th of November has passed by quickly, and with it the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a young East Berliner at the time, the event was of great importance to me, although the true extent would only reveal itself many years later.
TV Tower on a foggy day
The West’s Fault?
My dad pointed me to John Maersheimer’s piece in the current Foreign Affairs issue. “Why the Ukraine Crisis is the West’s Fault” is a fairly comprehensive representation of a realist IR perspective of the current conflict.
Tanks in Kiev, 2009
Myanmar Times interview
Our interview with the Myanmar Times came out a few days ago: On a research assignment in 2013, Ben Bansal, a writer and graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, arrived in Myanmar for the first time. “It was unlike any place I had been before, yet somehow familiar at the same time,” he wrote by email recently.
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise building (1908)
Architecture Biennale 2014
I had a major blast visiting the Architecture Biennale in Venice this year. Although we had a little less than two days, we managed to see most of the main national pavilions, some of the other countries’ contributions as well as the Monditalia exhibition at the Arsenale.
Main Biennale pavilion
More Yangon teasers
Yangon Facebook/Tumblr
To kick off the crowdsourcing aspect of our Yangon Architecture Guide, we launched Tumblr and Facebook pages. We are initially featuring some of the lesser-known buildings, and have already received great comments from from an extremely gracious generous gentleman called Harry Hpone Thant. I paste some examples below the jump.
Thein Gyi Market
Eurasianism 2005 and 2014
Courtesy of my friend Chris, I found this old blog post of mine dating back to 2005. In it I discuss Eurasianism, an ill-defined school of thought in post-Soviet Russian social science. Amid events in the Ukraine it feels strangely up-to-date today. I repost in full after the jump.
Zenkov Cathedral – Almaty/Kazakhstan (2005)
Yangon Architectural Guide
This blog has allowed me to structure my explorations of the past one and a half years. One particular project originated from these and is now taking up more and more of my time: My friend and photographer Manuel Oka and I are currently working on an architectural guide to Yangon.
Update 20 May 2014: My close friend Elliott Fox has agreed to come onboard to help write and edit the book. Elliott has travelled to Myanmar on numerous occasions both professionally and personally.
Strand Hotel – photo by Manuel Oka
1964 New York World’s Fair
Fifty years ago, the 1964/1965 World’s Fair in New York opened its gates. The event marked the final culmination of Robert Moses’s long career. The event wasn’t sanctioned by the Bureau of International Exhibitions and thus lacked the international allure of other Expos. I visited the area on Tuesday.
The New York State Pavilion